Equestrians are known for taking better care of their horses than themselves and ignoring their own pain while fretting over the first sign that something is wrong with their horse. You’re probably very diligent with ensuring that your horse sees a horse chiropractor whenever they need to, but are you obtaining the chiropractic care you need too?

Horseback riders face many different chiropractic concerns. It’s important to ensure that you do what you can to keep your spine in alignment, not just for your sake, but also for that of your horse. Here’s what you need to know about some of the factors that impact equestrian spines and how chiropractic care can improve your riding.

Chiropractic Concerns Horseback Riders Face

Regardless of whether you ride English or Western, whether you compete in shows or just hack around the stables, horseback riding takes a toll on your body. It can increase your risk of injury, and impact your spinal alignment. Equestrians need proper alignment for both the sake of their own health and for that of their horse’s, as well as to ensure a smooth ride. 

Uneven weight distribution that can result from spinal misalignment can lead to challenges while riding, such as your horse thinking that you are giving them mixed signals. Obtaining chiropractic care as needed reduces your risk of injury and can improve your connection with your horse.

Some of the common chiropractic concerns that horseback riders face are as follows.

#1. Constant Changes In Weight Distribution

As your horse moves, your body does too, and it takes significant effort to stay straight and upright. Your body undergoes constant adjustments even at a walk, and even more when you change gaits to a trot, canter, or gallop. Not only do you need to be mindful of your own body’s position, but your body is having to constantly adapt to the movement and speed of your horse. This can cause changes in your spinal alignment. 

#2. Stable Work

Whether mucking stalls or feeding the horses, a lot of stable work necessitates a lot of twisting, turning, bending, and lifting. If you don’t lift properly, you can end up seriously hurting your back. Additionally, much of the work around the stable is one-sided, which puts you at risk for throwing your spine out of alignment. 

#3. Not Enough Core Strength

Horseback riders need strong cores in order to hold themselves up straight. If your core is not strong enough, you could end up slouching in the saddle. This not only looks bad, but it also impacts both your own and your horse’s performance. Poor posture can lead to significant chiropractic problems over time. 

#4. Injuries From Falling, Being Bucked Off, And More

When you ride horses, you’re well aware of just how dangerous this sport is. If you have a green or more temperamental horse, you could end up being bucked off. If you are new to riding, lose your balance, or are unprepared for a horse’s reaction to something, you could end up falling off. Such instances can result in injuries from whiplash to back pain and more. Chiropractic care can help you recover so that you can get back in the saddle sooner.

Are Your Back Problems Impacting Your Ride?

If your spine is out of alignment, this can cause you to inadvertently send mixed messages while you ride. You may assume that you are sitting up straight, but your weight may be unconsciously shifted to one side, causing your horse to think you want them to turn and then getting frustrated and confused when you reprimand them for doing so. 

Just like horses can need chiropractic care do to the impact that riding can have on their spines, riders need to see chiropractors too, in order to ensure that they are protecting their health and doing what they can to ensure a smooth ride.

Chiropractic Care For Horseback Riders

Every rider is different, and as such, your chiropractor will personalize your treatment plan to your specific needs. Some riders really struggle to hold their shoulders back, while others find that they have a tendency to shift to one side over the other. Others ignore their back pain in order to carry on with the ride.

It’s important to take care of your spine and to look after your health so that you can ride better for longer. Chiropractors will work closely with you to uncover your specific chiropractic concerns so that you can find relief from your pain.

Elite Chiropractic provides professional chiropractic treatments for sports injuries and more. We offer spinal adjustment, spinal decompression, and other chiropractic treatments in order to restore you to proper spinal alignment. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and let us help you get back in the saddle.

Considering how chiropractic care uses force in order to realign your spine, many people worry that it can do more harm than good. They worry that chiropractic care can worsen problems, rather than fix them, and that you’d be better off sticking with more traditional treatment methods. The truth is that chiropractic care is safe when it is performed by a licensed doctor of chiropractic, but there are some risks that are worth mentioning. Here is what you need to know about safety and chiropractors.

What Are The Risks Seeing A Chiropractor?

Since chiropractors provide natural, non-invasive treatment, there aren’t many risks associated with seeing a chiropractor. It is common for people to experience headaches, fatigue, and some pain or discomfort in the adjusted area for a few days following their adjustment, but these should fade quickly. 

There are some more serious risks to seeing a chiropractor that are quite rare, but still possible. These include:

• Herniated disks/worsening of an existing herniated disk
• Compression of nerves in the spinal column
• Damage to an artery in your neck/a stroke following a neck manipulation

Generally, so long as you see a licensed doctor of chiropractic, you should be safe. Complications from chiropractic treatment are rare. As with anything, there is both the potential for mild and serious complications, but that does not mean that it is not safe to see a chiropractor.

Is There Anyone Who Shouldn’t See A Chiropractor?

Chiropractors can help you with all sorts of different conditions that can result from spinal misalignments. When they realign your spine, you can find relief from back pain, neck pain, headaches, and more. However, there are certain conditions that make seeking chiropractic adjustments inadvisable. 

Some of the conditions that make seeing a chiropractor inadvisable include:

• Cancer in your spine
• Increased risk of stroke
• Severe osteoporosis 
• Bone tumors
• Paget’s disease 

Some of the other conditions where chiropractic treatment may not be the safest option for you include:

• Progressive or sudden neurologic conditions 
• Conditions resulting in unstable joints
• Bleeding disorders

If you’re ever uncertain about if chiropractic care is safe for you, you can consult either with your primary care provider or with a licensed doctor of chiropractic. Chiropractors have your best interest at heart and want to help you feel better. They do not want to risk your health, but help it. 

If you are a good candidate for treatment, your chiropractor will personalize your care to you and your specific needs. If your condition would not benefit from chiropractic care, your chiropractor will tell you. 

Steps For Safe Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic is like any other medical practice. For your safety, you want to ensure that the chiropractor you see is licensed with a doctor of chiropractic degree. You can either look online for reviews or ask your physician for a referral. You can also schedule a consultation with a chiropractor in order to learn more about treatment options and whether or not chiropractic care is a good treatment option for you.

You wouldn’t see a doctor who lost their medical license or go to someone who didn’t go to med school for medical issues, would you? That would not be safe at all. The same is true for chiropractors. 

When you see licensed professionals, you can rest assured that they have your well-being in mind and will make adjustments to their treatments as needed to ensure that they are as safe and beneficial for you as possible. Chiropractors are experts in regards to your musculoskeletal system and undergo extensive training and schooling in order to learn how to provide their patients with good chiropractic treatment to help them recover. 

How To Determine If A Chiropractor Is Good

A good chiropractor can do wonders for your quality of life and help you recover from your issues, but unfortunately, the bad ones give the entire field a bad reputation. There are some warning signs that you can watch out for that indicate a chiropractor may not have your safety or care in mind and that you should continue your search for a good chiropractor who has your best interests at heart.

Some of the warning signs of a bad chiropractor include:

• They’re not treating the affected area.
• They don’t track your progress.
• Their diagnosis is gimmicky. 
• They schedule excessive visits.
• They’re ordering excessive X-rays.
• They’re not willing to work with other medical professionals.

Conversely, some of the signs that a chiropractor will have your safety in mind and work to take care of you include:

• Clear communication.
• They take the time to gather your health history and perform an evaluation. 
• They give you a clear strategy on how to help you.
• They adjust your treatment according to your pain and needs.
• They use multiple treatments to help your body heal.
• As you get better, they schedule fewer treatments because you need fewer.
• They work to ensure that you are comfortable and feel heard.
• They are willing to work with other medical professionals.
• They will tell you if chiropractic care is not the best option for you.

Safe Chiropractic Care You Can Trust

Elite Chiropractic is dedicated to providing each and every one of our patients with the personalized treatment they need in order to improve their well-being. We have your well-being at heart and will adjust your treatment as needed in order to ensure that it works for you. To learn more about if chiropractic treatment is right for you, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.

We use our backs for everything: walking, sitting, twisting, bending, and more. When we experience back pain of any sort, it’s no wonder that it can majorly impact your life. Herniated discs are an issue that many people can experience without any pain or symptoms, but in other cases, they can cause quite a bit of pain and difficultly going about your day-to-day life. Herniated discs can cause pain not just in your back, but also in your arms and legs.

Here’s what you need to know about herniated discs, potential causes and risk factors, as well as some warning signs that you may have one. We’ll also touch on what you can do if you’re experiencing this condition. 

What Is A Herniated Disc?

Your spinal discs provide cushioning and support between your vertebrae. They let your spine move freely as you walk and bend and lift. They absorb shock to the spine and protect its bones. 

Spinal discs have two parts: a tough outer ring and a soft inner portion. They’re often compared to jelly doughnuts, because of their harder exterior and gelatinous inner part. If you have a herniated disc, this means that your spinal disc has been injured or become weakened in a way that causes the inner portion of the spinal disc to protrude through the exterior. 

Herniated discs are also called slipped discs, ruptured discs, or bulging discs. They’re among the most common causes of pain in your back, neck, and/or legs. They usually heal on their own, but in some cases, they can require more intensive treatment and even surgery in the worst cases. 

What Causes Herniated Discs?

This condition happens when the outer layer of your spinal disc weakens and cracks and the inner part of it pushes through. If the inner part of your spinal disc presses on spinal nerves, this can cause other issues.

This can happen through the normal wear and tear of aging, known as disc degeneration. This is because as you age, there’s less water in your body, which causes it to be less flexible and more prone to injury.

In many cases, people don’t know what caused their slipped disc. In some cases, this can happen as a result of an injury, such as falling on your back.

Some of the factors that increase your risk of getting a herniated disc include:

• Aging, because of lessened water in the body
• Smoking, because it lessens the supply of oxygen to the discs
• Excess weight, because it puts extra stress on your spinal discs
• Frequent driving, because it puts pressure on your spine
• A sedentary lifestyle, because you’re not up and moving
• Physically demanding jobs, because of the repetitive lifting, twisting, and use of your back
• Genetics, because some people have a predisposition to getting slipped discs

Telltale Signs You May Have A Herniated Disc

It is entirely possible for you to have a herniated disc without experiencing any pain or symptoms. Depending on where in the spine your problem is, the symptoms may vary. For instance, if it is towards the top of your spine, you are more likely to have arm problems. If it is towards the base of your spine, you’re more likely to have leg problems. Symptoms usually worsen the more that you move and improve the more that you allow yourself to rest.

Some of the telltale signs that you may have a herniated disc include:

• Pain while sitting
• Radiating pain into your leg
• Pain and numbness on one side of your body
• Tingling in your hips and legs
• Weakness in your legs
• Pain while walking
• Arm pain, numbness, or weakness
• Pain that occurs/is worsened by activities
• Struggling to bend or straighten your back
• Neck pain
• Lower back pain
• Experiencing relief from pain when you rest

Because not all slipped discs are symptomatic and the above symptoms could be the cause of a variety of different issues, you can schedule an appointment with a chiropractor in order to diagnose the issue.

What To Do If You Have A Herniated Disc

In many cases, herniated discs will go away on their own with proper rest and some over-the-counter treatments, like pain killers. If your pain does not go away, you can schedule an appointment with a chiropractor so that they can relieve the pressure on your discs and reposition any bulging discs. Chiropractors have a variety of treatment methods that they utilize in order to restore your spine to proper alignment. 

Elite Chiropractic provides chiropractic care for herniated discs. If you’re experiencing pain, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Our complimentary consultations can identify the root cause of your pain and help us formulate a treatment plan that can restore your spinal health and improve your quality of life.